Mapping an Island Old Providence, Colombia
A
t only 18 square kilometers and invisible on maps of the Caribbean, Isla de Providencia, or Old Providence, Colombia, sits off the coast of Nicaragua in near anonymity, despite the rumors that Robert Louis Stevenson based his famous novel Treasure Island on the island. Before 2008, even Google Earth did not have a satellite image, instead showing the island as a mere change in the depth of the surrounding sea. Online maps rarely pictured more than a single road, some gullies and the airport scattered with approximate dive sites in the surrounding blue. The only quality map I could find, I purchased from NOAA
Alison DeGraff
of a British survey in 1835; needless to say it was a bit out of date, albeit beautiful. With a trip arranged to return to Old Providence during January-Term 2010, I planned an independent study where I would groundtruth information I collected from the government and create data of my own with a handheld global positioning system (GPS). Only 90 kilometers from its sister island of San Andrés, it is an easy flight on a good day, but an impossible one on a bad day—it took four days to arrive on Old Providence because of thunderstorms and high winds. During the wait I met with the GIS technician at CORALINA
Where in the World is Old Providence?
Turks & Caicos Islands The Bahamas
Cuba
Mexico
Cayman Island
Haiti Dominican Republic
Jamaica 85°0'0"W
Belize
80°0'0"W kil om ete rs
Kingston
Guatemala 15°0'0"N
71 0
Honduras El Salvador Bluefields
Old Providence Island
m
0 29 eters m kilo San
90k
Nicaragua
10°0'0"N
72 5
rs ete om kil
Costa Rica
5 25
Andrés Island
kilo meter s Cartagena
Panama City
Venezuela 41
Panama Cartography: Alison DeGraff
Colombia